Gamble was never a serious racer - he never pretended to be - but, like all race fans, he dreamed that one day he might drive in a Grand Prix. In his case, though, the dream was to come true! After gaining experience with Triumph and MGA cars in the US, Fred stumbled into 'Lucky' Casner, a colourful personality and real wheeler-dealer. In 1960 they formed Scuderia Camoradi with the aim of tackling some of Europe's famous sports car races with a Maserati Birdcage and a Corvette. Fred was only allowed to race the latter car and drove within his limits to finish tenth at Le Mans.

By coincidence the Camoradi base in Modena housed the ex-Behra Porsche F2 car and, knowing that the organisers of the Italian GP were anxious to fill the grid boycotted by the British teams, Fred contacted them and was amazed to be offered $1000 starting money. In the race he ran out of fuel out on the track, and was forced to run half a mile back to his pit. Armed with a 5-gallon can, he refilled the car and eventually finished tenth and last! Gamble returned to the States at the end of the year, and later worked with Shelby's Cobra project, before accepting an offer to join Goodyear in 1965. He was the cutting edge of the tyre giant's move into Grand Prix racing and had the immense satisfaction of seeing two championships won in 1966 and 1967, before handing over the reins to Leo Mehl.